Teel Time: In postseason, ACC football needs to prove that rankings, recognition merited

Quarterback Jameis Winston and Florida State are 12-0 entering ACC title game versus Duke.

Quarterback Jameis Winston and Florida State are 12-0 entering ACC title game versus Duke.

David Teel

Imagine this scene at ACC world headquarters in late August: Closing the monthly staff meeting, commissioner John Swofford reveals that entering conference championship week, the ACC will have three teams with at least 10 victories, including the nation’s consensus No. 1, and another with realistic BCS at-large hopes.

Can you say Harlem Shake? The room would have come champagne-spraying unhinged.

And with good reason. The last ACC team to play for the national title and/or finish top five in the polls was Florida State in 2000; the league has received only one at-large Bowl Championship Series in 15 years, and the conference has never before seen three teams win 10 games prior to postseason.

Oh, and just to add to the festivities: a record 11 bowl-eligible squads among the ACC’s 14 members, plus the national leaders in rushing, pass efficiency, interceptions, tackles for loss and kickoff returns.

So the year to date clearly has boosted the conference’s long-underperforming football stock. That said, the regular season could have been better, and the postseason needs to be better.

Most paramount, top-ranked Florida State (12-0) needs to dispatch Duke (10-2) in the ACC championship game Saturday and advance to the BCS title contest in Pasadena, Calif. There the Seminoles would face either Ohio State or Saturday’s Auburn-Missouri winner.

A beyond-charming, four-touchdown underdog, Duke needs to be quasi-competitive Saturday and again in its bowl, perhaps versus Texas A&M and 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel in the Chick-fil-A. The Blue Devils are 20th in the BCS standings, but given their downtrodden past, many remain skeptical.

Clemson (10-2) could face the ACC’s most difficult postseason challenge in the form of an Orange Bowl against defending national champion Alabama, which figures to be quite ornery in the wake of its epic loss at Auburn. If the Tigers receive that at-large BCS invitation, it would be the ACC’s second in three years — Virginia Tech was an at-large in 2011, to the Sugar Bowl.

But regardless of postseason opponent, Clemson needs to show a strong pulse after losing signature games against Florida State and South Carolina by 37 and 14 points, respectively.

Like during its 1990s prime under coach Bobby Bowden, Florida State has been the ACC’s bell cow this season, winning every game by at least 14 points and all but Boston College by at least 27. Enhancing the ACC’s credibility, Clemson defeated Georgia in the opener, Miami bested Florida when the Gators were respectable, and Pitt nudged Notre Dame to highlight the conference’s 41-15 record versus outside competition.

But the ACC is only 4-9 combined against the SEC (3-5), Pacific 12 (0-2), Big Ten (0-2) and Big 12 (1-0), and Clemson’s loss to South Carolina, and Georgia Tech’s to Georgia, both Saturday, were particularly disappointing.

Yes, the Gamecocks and Bulldogs are eighth and 22nd, respectively, in the BCS standings, but the Tigers committed a season-high six turnovers, while the Yellow Jackets squandered a 17-point lead at home before falling in overtime. Clemson has dropped five straight to South Carolina, Georgia Tech the same to Georgia, which, by the way, was without starting quarterback Aaron Murray (knee).

Murray and Clemson counterpart Tajh Boyd were among many mentioned during preseason as possible Heisman Trophy candidates, but frontrunner status now belongs to Florida State’s Jameis Winston, the national leader in pass efficiency, providing he is not charged in an ongoing sexual assault investigation.

Winston and Williams haven’t been alone. Other ACC players atop the national stat charts are Pitt defensive lineman Aaron Donald in tackles for loss, Virginia’s Anthony Harris in interceptions and Duke’s DeVon Edwards in kickoff returns.

Also, Florida State cornerback Lamarcus Joyner and Donald are among the five finalists for the Nagurski Award, presented to college football’s top defensive player, while Duke’s David Cutcliffe merits consideration for national coach of the year.

The challenge for all during the next five weeks is to confirm that all the rankings and recognition were merited.

I can be reached at 247-4636 or by e-mail at dteel@dailypress.com. Follow me at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP